Alcohol use holding steady at 62 percent: Gallup

Americans’ alcohol use is holding steady at 62 percent, according to data from Gallup’s latest Consumption Habits poll. 

Gallup found most Americans reported they had “occasion to use alcoholic beverages such as liquor, wine or beer,” which matches up with Gallup’s findings over more than eight decades since the company began tracking this measure. This is lower than the peak reading of 71 percent, which was reported between 1976 and 1978.  

Thirty-eight percent of participants said they abstain completely, with 24 percent of nondrinkers stating they do not have a desire to or do not want to drink. The poll found between 10 percent to 16 percent of nondrinkers cited various reasons behind their choice, including not liking alcohol, believing it is unhealthy, a fear of the consequences, a bad experience in the past with alcohol, religious beliefs or health-related reasons. 

As for those who do drink, 69 percent said they drank within the past week, with 32 percent saying they did so in the past 24 hours and 37 percent saying they did in the past two to seven days. 

The poll found drinking is more prevalent in middle-aged adults, college-educated adults, those with higher incomes and those who attend church less than once a week when compared to their counterpart groups. 

Around 1 in 5 U.S. adults who drink, or 19 percent, said they sometimes overindulge, or drink more than they should, the poll found. This is around the same percentage as the past three years, but lower than the trend average of 23 percent since 1978, Gallup said. 

Men are more likely than women to report overindulging, with 21 percent of men saying they have, compared to 16 percent of women, the poll showed. Additional data showed adults younger than 35 and those between 35 and 54 years old are more likely than those 55 and older to report drinking in excess. Those with household incomes of at least $100,000 are more than twice as likely to report overindulging compared to those with incomes less than $40,000.

Combining the 19 percent of those who said they overindulge with the 13 percent of nondrinkers who cited past problems with alcohol, Gallup said the results indicate a population rate of around 16 percent of adults in the U.S. who may currently or previously have dealt with alcohol abuse. 

Polling also looked at drinkers’ beverage of choice and found beer is significantly more popular than liquor and wine in all but five readings, with 37 percent of drinkers saying they consume beer most frequently, compared to 31 percent who favor liquor and 29 percent who choose wine. 

The data comes from Gallup’s July 3-27 Consumption Habits, which was conducted through telephone interviews with a random sample of 1,015 adults aged 18 or older living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 4 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level.